Margaret Hardwidge (19 Apr 1925 - 12 Aug 2018)

In loving memory of Margaret Hardwidge who sadly passed away on 12th August 2018

Memories of Mum

Mum was born in Portishead, Somerset but lived in Union Street, Melksham. She went to the first St Michael’s School by the church until she was 14 and then went to work in Avon Rubber, making gas masks during the war. She married my dad, Doug, in September 1949 and moved to Whitley, living in Eden Grove and moving to Springfield Gardens in 1969.

She gave up work when my brother and I came along, but became the dinner lady at Shaw School, when school dinners were introduced, and we were both at school. She stayed there until I was going to teacher training college and then went back to Avon Rubber in 1972 making diving suits to help with my college fees. She stayed there until Dad had a heart attack in 1986 and then stopped work to look after Dad while he recovered.

She had a lot of hobbies – she loved reading, was a great cook, and enjoyed handicrafts including sewing, knitting, crochet, embroidery and cross stitch. Gardening was a love shared with Dad, so much so that they had ‘his’ and ‘hers’ sheds and greenhouses when they moved to Springfield Gardens. When she married Dad, she also became part of his life in local cricket, making cricket teas and being on the playing fields committee for many years. Later, after Dad stopped playing, they joined as members at Somerset Cricket Club and went to Taunton and other grounds to watch them play. We would often get up extremely early and drive to Taunton to start queuing at 10.30 am for a 2 o’clock start. There were also two trips to London to Lords to see them play in the Gillette Cup Final, the first ending in disappointment when Northants won, but the second seeing them win beating Kent. That was a great celebration at the ground and on the way home with us stopping for a meal.

When Dad retired in 1993, they visited most of the counties in England, Scotland and Wales visiting and walking in the countryside. They both loved visiting historical houses and gardens and were members of the National Trust and the Royal Horticultural Society. They also took many coach trips abroad to many countries in Europe visiting France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Austria, and Italy. For their Golden Wedding, they took a three-week coach tour visiting all the main cities of Spain including Granada, Toledo and Barcelona.

Mum was a founding member of the local WI and was also a member of Melksham Flower Club. She was involved in the village committee that renewed the play equipment at Shaw Playing fields and delivered the village magazine to the houses in Springfield Gardens from 1981 to 2012. She and Dad were members of Melksham Historical Society and enjoyed visiting the local towns and villages and finding out about their history. They were also members of St Michael’s Church and enjoyed coming to Sunday morning services.

Although she suffered from dementia in later life, there were still days when she was alert and I could have conversations with her. She loved to see Marley, my dog, although she could never remember his name. The last two years of her life were spent in Wingfield Nursing home, where she was very happy and joined in many of the activities.